The Stormcrow, A Superhero's Tale Options

[Acadian]

An epic Blood Raven fight!

A dragon at her back and a steel golem to her front, she still manages to take down the summoner – which turned out to simply be another pawn. Your descriptions of her use of magic and internal torments – including her own grievous injuries and subsequent self-healing were amazing.

I chuckled over her methodical golem disassembly.

Uh oh, Stormcrow needs help now.

[Renee]

Yes, I need to check out more Supergirl. I think it's on Hulu. I can't deal with TV these days. 800+ channels, bah! :panel: I just drives me nuts. Pretty sure she's on Hulu though, which will make it easier.

Wow, a talking sword, and it recites poetry. That's something new. I hope they destroy this ferking Summoner dude.

Samhain stirred in her hand. It recognized the Summoner, just as it had January. His blood and bone called out to it, and the sword answered. That could only mean one thing. The thing which Blood Raven had dreaded all along. The Summoner was not merely one of her father's progeny, but one of her own as well.

Okay, this is important. This is big. I don't fully understand how all of this works, but to me it seems like if it's 'one of her own', this means she created the demon??

Uh oh! A human-like shape, huge and made of steel? Sounds like the Summoner just summoned Liberty Prime! That doesn't seem to work so he tries a Flame Atronach. Which is probably better because vampires have trouble with fire.

Whoa, she drains health from the living earth. That's also something new. Never heard of that. Yikes, this is crazy. The Summoner is one tricky dude. So he just summoned all of that, with the scarab beetle and all that? Damn.

Do not give in to Selene's Curse! Tempting, though.

[SubRosa]

Acadian: That was a really fun segment to write. It was finally Blood Raven showing what she can do when she is not holding back. Even without her blood magic, she is more than a match for three villains at a time. She can dish it out, and she can take it.


Renee: Samhain is sort of a talking sword. Not in the sense that it is intelligent and has a will of its own. But it does have a personality of sorts, and of course it has Power. Norse Seidkonas (Witches) carried a staff or wand that was a symbol of their power and status. When they died, their staff was destroyed and placed in their grave with their body. It was because people were afraid the staves would be too powerful without their owners to control them. There was the idea that they had a life of their own, so they ritually "killed" the staves with their wielders.

I am going with something similar. Except for the simplest ones, magic items in this world usually have their own unique names, and power, beyond that of their creators. This is especially true of items used in legendary deeds. They gain a sort of personality or "alignment" of their own, based on how they were used, who used them, who created them, etc... Since Samhain was made by Blood Raven, and she strongly identifies with her Irish heritage, the sword has become a personification of the goddess the Morrigan. Even as Blood Raven has herself. So it will speak in the Morrigan's voice when a person with power wields it.

Also, as Blood Raven said in the past, she made Samhain with her own blood and bone (the latter used for the carbon that tempered the iron). Samhain knows her blood, and it knows her descendants. Her DNA is a part of the steel. It is literally a part of her family. Samhain recognized the Summoner as one of Blood Raven's descendants. It did the same back when January first saw the sword a few chapters back. But where it liked January, it was repelled by the Summoner.

Blood Raven said a long time ago that she has ceased draining the life of people. Instead she takes it from plants, insects, and even microbes. She is a Vegan vampire.

The Summoner did not create the steel golem or the fire golem with the scarab beetle. He did that with his own magic. The amulet simply protects him from attacks, and detection. Plus it has that surprise built in that killed him when the Hierophant decided he was a liability.





Book 8.24 - Blood

Cheers greeted January's ears as she stared down at the spot the Abyssal had recently occupied. The bones left behind there were clearly human. She had not seen those before, in the aftermath of defeating the djieien in Ferndale. Did that mean that this sacrifice was stronger than that one, more resistant to banishment? Or was it just pure accident that perhaps some parts of the poor person who had died to bring the monster here had been left trapped inside its body when it formed?

She tried to shake off her morbid thoughts. There were people all around, and she knew very well that her behavior was a cue for them. Like it or not, just like every other famous person, she was a role model. No matter how some of them might try to protest otherwise. She could inspire people to compassion, or to fear, or to hate, or to simple apathy. She would never be able to escape that fact.

Suddenly, fame felt even more confining than being in the closet had been.

She knelt down in front of the human remains. She should gather them up. That had been a person, someone who mattered. That someone had a mother and father, perhaps a spouse, or siblings, or children. That someone was a part of this world, and should still be within it.

Her heart skipped a beat, causing her to lurch in spite of herself. Agony lanced through her wings, as what felt like a hundred icicles stabbed through their feathers. She glanced back, and saw that no harm had come to them. No one was stabbing them, or shooting them, or any such thing. Even the goop that the Abyssal had sprayed them with was gone, washed away by the rain.

She leaned forward, and was forced to put out one hand out to avoid planting her face into the deck. Before she knew it, the quinoa salad she had had for lunch sprayed all over the steel plates below her. Her head pounded, but at least the woozy feeling that had begun to creep over her deadened the pain from her wings.

"Stormcrow, what's wrong," Gadget's voice showed concern.

She tried to answer, but she could not get any words past her lips. Not with all the vomiting. She felt hands on her back and sides. Someone was holding her. Thankfully, that included holding back her hair.

"What happened?" Cray's voice now sounded in her ear.

"I dunno," Gadget answered. "She just put down the oniare. Then she collapsed to the deck. Wait a minute. It spat something on her. Stormcrow! There's a general purpose antivenom in your utility belt, left side pocket. Get it out fast!"

January fumbled at her belt with her free hand. Her fingers felt like lead ingots. It was hard to feel through them. Her heart kept skipping beats. She could not tell when the next might come, if at all. Somehow she got the flap to the pocket open. She dug out what felt like a wide cylinder, but a moment later it tumbled down onto the deck.

A black gloved woman's hand reached out into the pool of vomit January had created. Thankfully it was raining however. That was quickly washing it all away. January recognized the glove. It was made of woven hagfish fibers, identical to the gauntlets she currently wore. That meant it was her backup suit. It was Vortex.

The other woman lifted the autoinjector and popped off its plastic cap. January was vaguely aware of voices on the comm link. But they swam in and out of her hearing. She felt someone pull down the armored fibers that protected her neck. A sharp prick followed a moment later.

She concentrated on just breathing - and not losing any more of her stomach - for long moments after that. Finally her heart began to beat out a steady refrain once more. The ache in her head and wings subsided, but did not completely go away either. She pushed her way to her feet. She was now aware that both Vortex and her father Hungry Ghost hovered protectively about her. She laid a hand on Vortex's shoulder, and forced a smile to her lips.

"I think I'm better now."

Her body betrayed her words however, and the next thing she knew, she sagged against the other woman. Thank goodness Vortex was there to catch her up in her arms. Otherwise she imagined that she might have indeed face planted into the deck. As it was she was forced to lean heavily upon the other woman to remain aloft.

"Perhaps not," Hungry Ghost murmured. "That must be a meta-toxin, to take effect so fast. Even cobra venom takes up to a half hour to kill."

"The oniare's venom shouldn't act this fast," Cray intoned. "According to the Bestiary it takes at least ten minutes, if not longer. Sometimes it kills, sometimes it just makes people sick: headaches, nausea, low blood pressure, heart arrhythmia, and even seizures. It's a lot like stingray venom, but far deadlier."

"I'll be ok," January insisted. Her hands were steadier now when she pulled a small water flask from her belt. She lifted it to her lips and swished some of the blessedly pure liquid about her mouth to wash out the vomit.

"That antivenom did the trick." She tucked the bottle away at her waist. It felt much better having that awful taste out of her mouth. "I just need a minute to catch my breath. We need to get that firewing. Go ahead, I'll catch up."

She turned to look Vortex in the eye. "When I said save people's lives, I didn't think it would be mine. Thank you."

The next thing she knew, the other woman's lips were pressed against hers. She melted into her arms, almost literally. Unfortunately, that was not due to romance. Rather her body still was not hers to command.

Vortex must have intuited this, for she quickly broke off the kiss, and instead lowered January to the deck. She leaned back against the steel rails that lined the edge of the icebreaker's superstructure. She looked up, to the gray clouds overhead, and allowed the rain to continue to wash her face. It felt good to be out in the elements, almost as good as Vortex's kiss...

Then Blood Raven was standing over her. As ever, January felt the other woman before she saw her. She was so used to her now, that she could feel her in the astral without even trying to sense her. It was like being able to tell a person by their footsteps, or how the stairs creaked when they rose up them. Once you got to know them, it was just that obvious.

The elder heroine's eyes were boiling vats of red lava when she leaned down over her. She felt red hot mana flow from the other woman, and connect the two of them. It was not ordinary magic, but blood magic, the other woman's vampiric powers at play.

"Cray was correct, the oniare's venom should not have taken effect so expeditiously, or with such efficacy," she observed, then continued in a tone too low for others to overhear. "I think we may have found your weakness my dear. Yet the antivenom has done its work. Your blood is free from the toxin. However, the damage is done. This will take some time to recover from. Time we presently lack."

January knew what that meant. She did nothing as Blood Raven reached out with a claw and slashed open one of her wrists. The battle-sweat smelled coppery and sweet, but her blood did not flow farther than her flesh. Blood Raven tore open the skin of her own palm a moment later, and pressed the two wounds together, mixing their wound-dew into one.

"Cnámha na Cruinne
Fuil Dóiteáin
Anáil Aeir
An Coire Uisce
Cneasaigh an Spiorad seo, le do chumhacht"

Blood Raven sang in her mother's native Gaelic. It was a simple song, that invoked the bones of the Earth, the blood of Fire, the breath of Air, and the cauldron of Water, to heal the spirit. The words of the song sank into January's wracked flesh and feathers, even as Blood Raven's mana did the same.

As when Blood Raven had taken her injuries after the Flying Dutchman fire, January felt her wounds being pulled out of her. It was like a dark spirit being exorcised from her body. That darkness was siphoned from her, and transferred to Blood Raven. In its passage she felt lighter, stronger, brighter. Finally the darkness was purged, and she rose to her feet under the brilliant rays of the sun.

Blood Raven leaned against her for a moment. The hissing and popping of evaporating blood came to her ears, like olive oil boiling in a frying pan. She felt it deep within the other woman's body. It converted her borrowed life energy into magic, in order to heal herself of the venomous wounds she had just absorbed.

As before, January did not envy the other woman this power. She clearly felt every ounce of the agony which she absorbed. Were she not a vampire and able to regenerate, it would surely kill her in no time at all.

January looked down. The gash Blood Raven had cut through her wrist was gone, as if it had never existed. Though as ever, the scars left from her suicide attempt remained as white reminders of her past.

The rain had stopped. Around them people held up phones with bright lights showing that they were recording. She imagined that would make for quite a MeTube video. She hoped it would not out Blood Raven's true nature as a vampire. But instead simply be taken as a sign that one of her meta-human abilities was the control of blood. It was in her name after all.

[Acadian]

’She is a Vegan vampire.’


’Suddenly, fame felt even more confining than being in the closet had been.’
- - So it can be for any leader who takes their role to heart.

As odd as it sounds, I love that Vortex held Stormcrow’s hair as she vomited. After the Flying Dutchman fire, Jan vomited – only it was Blood Raven who held back her hair that time. I recall commenting how that simple act of compassion cemented Blood Raven in my mind as a true friend. So it was in this episode that similarly cements the true nature of Hannah’s feelings for Jan. Very nicely done!

So we learn that the Stormcrow may be readily vulnerable to poison. I bet Gadget will start gadgeting to ameliorate that.

I also love the empathic nature of Blood Raven’s healing. It costs her to do so but she willingly bears the cost.

[Renee]

I wish I knew a vegan vampire! As long as she don't crave anybody's blood, of course.

Thanks for the explanation about Norse lore, because wow, that's really intense, all those beliefs and rites. I seem to recall that special items could indeed have their own Alignment in some of our table-games as well. So in this way, not anybody could just pick it up and use it.

The Summoner's a tricky dude. Come on, let's see if he's ready to get pwned!

Yeah that's what they mean when they say fame's not all it's cracked up to be. Oh shesus, easy there!!

I love that it's raining now. Jobbie Nooner, thoroughly ruined for the Year 2019.

Stormcrow! There's a general purpose antivenom in your utility belt, left side pocket. Get it out fast!"

Such a superhero's assistant! The guy thinks of everything.

Aw, they kiss. I bet that was awesome. Getting a blood-update from Raven though....

Oh gosh, more phones. I bet there's all sorts of forums and "Subscribe Please!" videos and maybe even zines being collaged, all of them taken from Stormcrow as she does her best, trying to assist and save. There's a Stormcrow channel on MeTube, probably dozens of them by now, getting millions of Likes. Stormcrow memes everywhere. Toy companies coming up with Michigan-area action figures, really going nuts at the possibilities, because one thing I know is the toy market is a crowded one. Coming up with something new in this market is not easy. For every successful Action Jackson or Transformers or X-Men idea, there's a thousand which never make it anywhere near mass sales. So I'd imagine all these heroes in the Michigan area are getting their personas ripped off! That's probably what would happen if all this were real. Cray and Gadget and the others are too busy to do anything.

Hmm. Do hipsters still print zines??? Congratulations on defeating the baddies. Most of them, anyway.

[SubRosa]

Acadian: January has definitely come to learn that being a superhero is not as fun as it is cracked up to me.

I recall listening to an interview with Iggy Pop on the radio once, and he related that someone holding your hair while you puke in the shower is one of the truest tests of a person's feelings for you. It isn't the sort of thing a fair weather friend does.

It won't be Gadget working on a counter to Jan's weakness to poison. Jan actually will herself in the future, and then enlist the aid of someone far more skilled in alchemy than she is. I looked up several options for things like an bezoar, goa stone, snake-stone, or toadstone, all of which are "real" examples of magical antidotes/poison resistances. Though even with a magic item to make her resistant to poison, it might just counter her weakness, but not truly make her immune to toxins.


Renee: It is raining because of January's mood. She influences the elements around her. That is also why it stopped raining a few moments later when she was feeling better.

There are lots of videos and blogs and Instantgram stories about Stormcrow, and the other heroes in the Great Lakes Alliance by now. If you recall from a few chapters back when January guest starred on a podcast, one of the hosts was wearing a Stormcrow shirt that some of his mates had made. In Season Two I see January traveling to Washington DC to meet with a Non Profit to make official Stormcrow shirts and gear, with the money going to trans people. That will kick off an entire adventure in the DC / Atlantic Ocean area.








Book 8.25 - Blood

"Now, once more unto the breach," January heard Blood Raven quote from the Bard.

The elder heroine looked from January, Vortex, and Hungry Ghost to the island. There January saw who had repaired the hole in the ship. It was Blackhawk, Ontario's superhero. Now that she saw her, January remembered that she could indeed control electromagnetic energy and manipulate metals.

Clad in banded steel armor emblazoned with a medicine wheel, Blackhawk stood in mid air over Gull Island. A field of energy created a bubble around not only her, but those below. Unlike Vortex's force fields, her shields were barriers of glowing energy, like a faint aurora of streaming white light. Then the firewing loosed a torrent of flame upon the field, and it shone with brighter intensity and color, becoming a shimmering mass of green, red, and purple.

January leaped skyward and snapped out her wings. Blood Raven soared into the firmament beside her, completely ignoring gravity. As ever, she seemed to alter reality to suit her will. A moment later Vortex and her father Hungry Ghost appeared on the beach ahead, as reality did indeed literally warp around them in the instant of their teleportation.

Lighthammer rocketed up from the beach, which was now empty of craquehhe. At least those that were still moving. Cleveland's new white hat directed bolts of his signature hard light at the firewing above. But while they struck home, they made little impact upon the creature.

Ôkami stared up at the winged elemental overhead. Then he whirled his sword around him in a complex flourish. January realized that he was not showing off. That was not his style. Rather mana built up in the air behind each of those motions. Finally he made a great cut directly into that knot of energy. No, not a cut, but a bash. He struck it like a baseball bat, and sent it hurtling skyward.

The howling of wolves filled her ears, and January felt the magical energy transform into sound waves. They punched into the firewing in a tight beam of sonic energy, and tore a hole through its fiery body. Yet that seemingly great rent closed up a moment later, as more lava flowed in from its surrounding tissue, and fires roiled over its skin once more.

Blood Raven sent out tendrils of energy from each of her hands, and wrapped them around the elemental's body. She strained against the creature, and tried to pull it downward. January's eyes turned down beneath the creature, to see the waters of the lake below.

January saw what the elder heroine was up to, and rushed over to join her. She took hold of one of the tendrils of solidified mana and pulled back with all of her might. Yet still the firewing remained aloft, steadfastly immune to their efforts.

"Help us pull it down!" she cried out.

Lighthammer zoomed over, and took up another of the tendrils. He turned on his speed, and arrowed straight down toward the water. Then with a great screech of metal against metal, the remains of the surveillance tower rose up from the center of the island. The disjointed hunks of steel flowed together, and formed another lasso that snaked around the firewing. A moment later it too, pulled at the creature.

Ôkami went back to work with Chujitsu. He again flourished the katana and built up energy. Then he unleashed it in a surgically precise sonic attack. This time the sound waves ripped through the magma that joined one of the elemental's wings to its body. The entire wing sheared off, causing the elemental to dip precipitously in the air. Yet once more a moment later the volcanic flesh of the monster flowed back together, and its flames once again rejoined.

"Blackhawk, can your force fields protect me from that thing's flames?" Hungry Ghost shouted up to the First Nations heroine overhead.

"Yes!" she cried in return. "What do you have in-"

Before the energy manipulator could finish her sentence, Vortex and Hungry Ghost disappeared from the beach, as reality collapsed in around them. An instant later they reappeared as spacetime unfolded once more, this time in the air above the elemental. Vortex instantly disappeared again. But Hungry Ghost remained, and dropped onto the elemental's back.

A shimmering field of energy appeared under the Chinese man's feet. It bent noticeably as he fell into it. Then both pressed down directly into the elemental's body. January could not imagine how dense Vortex's father must have just made himself, and more importantly, how heavy. Well, actually she could. He had hit her back at Lakeside, and that had felt like a mountain had landed on top of her.

Now the creature did fall. It went slowly at first, but it gained momentum the farther it plummeted. January did not relent, nor did the others. They pulled and flew and otherwise used their respective abilities to their utmost. Together they brought the elemental down into the blue-green waters of Lake St. Clair.

A tremendous gout of steam rose up as the waves closed in about the creature of fire. But even though it was a being of literal elemental force, this time it was pitted against another, even greater power of the Earth's elements. Billions of gallons of water won the day, and the magical being's flames went out. Its lava cooled and hardened to black obsidian. In the end it lay there motionless, water hissing and lapping around it.

"So did that kill it?" Lighthammer asked what January imagined they all must have been thinking.

"Nay," Blood Raven shook her head. But she did withdraw her tendrils of power from the creature. She lowered herself to a place on the shore nearest the elemental. It was on the opposite side of the island from the beach, and all of the boats. January and the others soon joined her at the water's edge, and stared in amazement at the magical being.

"A being of elemental force such as itself is not so easily put paid to," Blood Raven continued. "A good thing too, for this world is in dire need of healthy elemental power."

"I can't believe you're the one saying we shouldn't kill it," Blackhawk murmured.

"There are a great many things about me that you would not believe," Blood Raven briefly stared at the Canadian heroine. Then she turned back to the momentarily quiescent elemental. "This being is not evil in its own right, just as rain is not. It was merely a pawn of the Summoner and his master. It is an important - and necessary - part of this world. It must not be unduly harmed."

"So what do we do with it?" January asked. "It's not like we can put it in the county lockup."

"Fire elementals such as this typically live within the deep places of the Earth, deeper even than Moria, miles and miles below, where it is all molten rock." Blood Raven mused. "They usually only come up to the surface world through volcanoes."

"Did she just drop a Lord of the Rings bomb?" Lighthammer held a hand up to the side of his mouth and whispered to January.

"I'm kind of surprised you know it," January murmured back. "You said you didn't go in for all that fantasy stuff."

"Yeah, but I still saw the movies when I was a kid," Lighthammer replied. Then he looked up at the same time January did, to notice that everyone was staring at them.

"So volcanoes," Cleveland's superhero recovered with the speed of his signature light. "We just drop it down one and we are all set then?"

"Easy peasy, lemon squeezy," Blackhawk remarked. "Assuming we had one of those around here."

"I know one," Vortex held up her hand, as if she was speaking up in class. January had to admit, she could understand the feeling. "My mom and I went to Mount St. Helens once. I can take us there."

"Can you move a being so large?" Hungry Ghost looked from the elemental to his daughter. There was no concealing the trepidation in his voice.

"I dunno," Vortex shrugged, "only one way to find out."

"Wait, will it not simply awaken and set off an eruption?" Ôkami finally spoke up. January almost jumped out of her skin. She had forgotten he was there. No, she had not forgotten. He had faded himself from everyone's awareness, as he often did in groups.

"You, Stormcrow, and I shall place it in a lasting slumber. In that time it will sink further into the planet. When it awakens once more, it will find itself within its natural home." Blood Raven looked from Ôkami to Vortex. "We shall require your services to convey us to the mountain, and return us once the deed is done."

"And I'd like to remind everyone that the Bestiary says that those craquehhe will get back up again unless their remains are completely turned to ash." Gadget's voice came over the comm link.

"Right, I guess that means me, now that I can do regular heat-based lasers too," Lighthammer murmured.

"Hooah..." he breathed with a decided lack of relish. January felt for him. Being on corpse-burning duty was not high on anyone's list of fun ways to spend a Friday afternoon.

"First I feel it is time I made my goodbyes," Hungry Ghost looked to the inflatable zodiac boat that was approaching their position. It was filled with Coast Guard members carrying rifles.

"Hey, aren't you a supervillain?" Blackhawk asked.

"Not today," Vortex insisted. She laid a hand upon the man's arm, and the two of them vanished.

"So what's his story?" The First Nations heroine asked in their absence. "Am I wrong? I thought he was a bad guy. But today he was helping us."

"We're all full of surprises," January said. "I ran into him a few days ago. We came to an understanding."

[Acadian]

This felt like a great culmination, with the whole gang working together to bring down that firedrake. Many hands make light work and all. Very clever use of the diverse powers and abilities possessed among the team. Ôkami was even able to coax his wolf sword into serving as a ranged weapon! I hope Vortex can teleport something that big.

Darn Summoner is still on the loose though. . . .

[SubRosa]

Acadian: That battle was a lot of fun to write, as well as a real challenge, with so many characters and moving parts. The final act of everyone working together was not an accident of course. I wanted to show that real strength comes from people taking collective action. I try to make that a through line in this fiction. January is never really doing any of this alone. At the very least she always had Gadget's voice in her ear and his brain working behind the scenes.

Not the Summoner, he is dead. But the Hierophant now. His time is limited though. We are nearing the finale. I am working on the final book/chapter of season one right now.




Mount St. Helens (2007)

Interior of a volcano (Iceland's Thrihnukagigur volcano)



Book 8.26 - Blood

Then Vortex was back again. January lifted her up in her arms, and flew out over the lake to deposit her atop the dormant elemental. Her feet sank into the blackened hide of the creature for a few inches, giving January a momentary start of alarm. The skin of the creature cracked and hissed, revealing still hot magma beneath. But the hagfish fibers of the backup Stormcrow suit were made to counter fire, and Vortex was unharmed.

The other woman knelt down atop the elemental, and reached out to lay both of her gauntleted hands upon the creature. She closed her eyes, and January could see her jaw set in concentration and effort. Then spacetime folded in around them, and the two of them disappeared. That obliged January to beat her wings to remain aloft, and above the water below.

The waters of the lake rushed in with the creature's absence, and set off a series of tall waves that rebounded out in all directions. The oncoming Coast Guard members in their little boat were tossed about for a moment. But they seemed to take it in stride. January imagined that rough seas were something they were used to, given their profession.

Vortex reappeared a moment later in the air above January. She dropped down to her level as gravity took its hold upon her. She reached out as she passed, and took a firm grip on January's arm. The world twisted around her, and once again January had that feeling of being nowhere. Then she was back on solid ground once more.

She was standing upon the edge of a vast caldera. Gray pebbles and white ash crunched under her feet. The air in her lungs felt thin, lacking in nourishment. January looked down into the vast, horseshoe-shaped crater below her. It was a filled with ice, of all things! It was not a smooth, even sheet of course. This was a glacier, crisscrossed with crevasses and seracs, while in some places the ice seemed to flow like frozen waterfalls. Yet bursting up from beneath hundreds of feet of this ice were several gigantic domes of rock. Steam curled up from the largest, and January noted an irregular hole bored down through its center, plunging into the depths of the earth.

Nearby lay the firewing. The great elemental spirit appeared to be dormant still. But January could see its chest rise and fall as if it was asleep. She hoped it would not awaken soon.

Vortex vanished, only to reappear a moment later with Blood Raven in tow. She stood there and stared at the two of them. January stared back, wondering why she had not gone for Ôkami yet. Apparently Blood Raven wondered the same, for she finally spoke.

"Do you tarry with cause?"

"Do you really need me to get him?" Vortex practically grumbled.

"Yes, of course," Blood Raven's eyes hardened. "Ôkami must learn this if he is to master his magic. Is there some reason you do not wish to bring him?"

"No," Vortex shook her head. But January could tell she was distressed. She could not imagine why. She moved closer to touch the other woman. But spacetime folded in around Vortex, and then she was gone.

"What was that about?" January wondered. Now that she thought about it, when she had called for her to bring Ôkami to her in the Coast Guard cutter, Vortex had instead teleported in with her father: Hungry Ghost.

"Perhaps she will be willing to speak of it in private?" Blood Raven mused.

Then reality warped again, and there she was, standing with Ôkami beside her. January said nothing more about her hesitancy, nor did Blood Raven. Instead they made their way down into the crater. It was would have been simple enough, if not for the imposing form of the elemental.

They were all obliged to pitch in with a superpowered version of "light as a feather, stiff as a board". Thankfully two of them possessed enhanced strength. With the firewing's slumbering frame in tow, they clambered down to the open vent. They nearly dropped it once, when the rocks and ash beneath their feet began to give way. But Blood Raven was able to steady their load by simply stepping off into empty space and holding herself aloft by the pure effort of her will.

"This appears to be a vent that opened long after the eruption," the elder heroine observed when they finally stepped up to the opening within the earth.

They stood there for a moment to gaze into the depths. Steam rose up from within, and all but Blood Raven were forced to engage the self-contained air supplies built into their suits. Cray noted over their communications links that the fumes were clearly toxic, to the living at least.

Then they worked their way down inside with the elemental. January found herself in a wondrous world. She had expected a gray and bleak landscape. Instead she was greeted by walls of colorful rock. Yellows, oranges, purples, reds, and more painted the walls around her. It was as if nature had become into an abstract expressionist artist, like Jason Pollock in volcano form.

The natural tunnel twisted, seemingly at random, except that it snaked ever downward. Finally they stood above a precipice. Hundreds of feet below lay a sheet of black rock. It was shot through with irregular cracks, from which bright red light issued forth. It reminded January of the cracked mud of a dried lake or riverbed. Only this was made of semi-molten earth.

"Add your aion to mine, and we shall all send this fellow home." Blood Raven raised her arms and began to sing in Gaelic. It was similar to the song from before, a poem dedicated to the elements, and the spirit that bound them all together. Only this time it focused more on fire and earth.

January closed her eyes, and stretched forth her astral senses. She instantly felt the awesome power of the firewing beside her, as well as that of Blood Raven. The flames of both her own and Ôkami's auras were pale candles compared to either. Yet January added her own light to the chorus, as did the Japanese-American beside her.

The elder heroine's own power rose up and entwined their own. Then the combined might of all three reached out to the firewing and wrapped about it in a soft cocoon. It reminded January of swaddling a baby in a blanket of down. Their combined magic lifted the elemental up into the air, and gently swung it out over the empty space beyond the edge of the cliff.

Slowly they lowered the creature into the depths. As they went, January found herself singing her own song. This was her elemental mantra, which she repeated softly there under the earth. She sneaked an eye open to see the creature descend, and saw that she was surrounded with a field of glowing Futhark runes. A similar magic circle of Celtic symbols ringed Blood Raven, as did one of Japanese Kanji around Ôkami's form.

She closed her eyes once more, to better concentrate. She still did not like splitting her attention between the astral and the physical. Moving between worlds was no problem these days. But living in each at the same time was still a challenge, as it was with other things as well.

She leaned into the magic they were working. She felt what Blood Raven was doing. She saw how the elder heroine worked the magic around the quiescent elemental and sent it deeper into a rejuvenating slumber. She followed the threads of power, and saw how they interacted with the elemental's aura. She watched as it touched one portion of its being after another, bringing light and peace with every movement.

January knew that whenever the firewing did awaken, whether centuries or millennia from now, it would be stronger than before, thanks to their magic. That was a good feeling. Blood Raven had been correct. The elemental was neither good nor evil. But it was a part of her world, and an important one at that.

The magical being met the surface of the lava, and the blackened rock gave way to red hot magma beneath. Great gouts of smoke issued forth, and filled the fissure with their fumes. January was thankful for the breathing gear Gadget had built into her helmet. Whatever was in that cloud, she knew she did not want to be breathing it in.

The elemental sank beneath the waves of lava, and finally Blood Raven allowed their magic to softly disentangle from it. Their songs trailed away, and their magic faded. But January could still feel the elemental below, and the effect their power had wrought upon it. It would sleep in peace, for a long, long time.

Vortex stared at them with barely concealed amazement. January had to admit, she felt pretty amazed at it all herself. Just walking inside a volcano was a stunning experience. Add in casting a group spell to send an elemental into torpor, well, that made for quite a day. Some people might even think it was as cool as trending on Instantgram.

January quietly laughed at the thought. Talk about priorities! But she knew it was true.

They returned to Gull Island without having to climb back out of the lava vent. Vortex simply teleported them back to the beach, one at a time. This time she did not pause at Ôkami. She simply grabbed him and they vanished together. Part of January wished they could stay. Seeing the inside of a volcano was a truly remarkable thing. Not something one did every day. The Earth was truly lovely, dark and deep. But they had promises to keep, and miles to go before they slept.

[Acadian]

"Do you tarry with cause?"
What a simply elegant sentence that so perfectly captures Blood Raven’s delightfully archaic manner of speech. It seems Votex is still warming up to Ôkami.

Down in the volcano was like visiting a realm of Oblivion – only a pretty one for a change.

Wonderful job of returning the firewing to its native element. As is often the case in this story, you took the time to show us the still evolving nature of Jan’s magic – in contrast to the awesome fully blossomed maturity of Blood Raven’s.

Shades of Robert Frost at the end there.


Nits:

’Then spacetime folded in around them, and the two of the disappeared.’
- - You might want to change the final ‘the’ to them; even better, to avoid using ‘them’ twice in close proximity, simply delete ‘of the’ so the end of the sentence simply reads ‘…and the two disappeared’.

’Now that she thought about {it?}, when she had called for her to bring Ôkami to her in the Coast Guard cutter, …’

[Renee]

Blackhawk is Ontario's superhero, very nice. I wonder who Baltimore's is. Whoever this is, he or she's really got a full plate at all times. All these character's force fields are really cool.

Yes, Okami's style is not to show off, he's probably not even aware if he's ever being showy. Wow, nice. I like all the images as they approach the same goal in myriad different ways.

Nice... they bring the fire elemental into the lake. But of course. That atronach probably feared being there that whole time, you know, if elementals can indeed feel fear.

Gadget still consulting his Monster Manual. They'd be lost without him (and Cray) as they deal with more of the action side of things.

--------------------------------------------

"The water rushed in to fill the elemental's absence" ... so this elemental was pretty big, eh? Sounds like it.

Whoa, this chapter's crazy. Getting rid of this monster really is a lot of work. Well it's good they're banishing the thing in a proper way. You know?

This post has been edited by Renee: Feb 19 2022, 03:00 AM

[SubRosa]

Acadian: Writing Blood Raven is always a challenge. But a rewarding one.

Vortex has a lot of warming up to do...

When I started to write the description of the volcano's interior I was thinking of a stark gray and monotone environment. I was really surprised when I googled "volcano interior" and found all those bright colors instead.

Blood Raven is indeed the wise old master when it comes to spellcraft. But January is learning. In fact, she already knows all she really needs to, that she can create the change she desires by applying her will and her power. It is just a matter of her understanding that anything is possible.

I could not resist the Robert Frost nod at the end. I have always loved his work.




Renee: Maybe Baltimore's superhero is named Poe, and he has a whole raven motif, and says "Nevermore" a lot.

It really is a nice to finally be at this point where the team is more than just January and Blood Raven. They are a real team now. It can be challenging to write, with so many individuals and their personalities. But it is really cool finally getting them together. Well, most of them at least.

In my mind the firewing was probably the most powerful of all the monsters. At least the one with the most hit points and armor, and potential for damage. The Summoner and Hierophant set this entire thing up to ambush Blood Raven and January, they were not taking chances. They got the biggest stick they could find to take a crack at them with.







Priya O'Neill (based on RL Priya Mann)



Book 8.27 - Blood


Back at Gull Island they found Blackhawk trying, and failing, to explain to the Coast Guard what had happened. January also noted that a reporter had arrived. She was a woman with a great waterfall of indigo hair, dressed casually in a sleeveless blue and white top and a teal skirt. A man with a camera recorded her as she tried to interject herself into the conversation between the First Nations heroine and the Coast Guard. Mostly it consisted of a great deal of shrugging on the part of Blackhawk.

January noted that in their absence the Canadian heroine had rebuilt the surveillance tower in the center of the island. That made January think she ought to go into the construction business. She could probably build skyscrapers by herself.

Lighthammer continued on his burning patrol. January saw that his new, ordinary heat-based lasers were indeed working up to snuff. She remembered helping him work on them before their battle with the cartel assassins on the Cleveland docks. "We all have to evolve" he had told her, "or we end up like the dinosaurs."

Blood Raven was more friendly to the reporter and Coast Guard than she usually was with the police. Granted, that was a low bar to exceed. She gave them both a brief description of what had occurred: the summoning of the oniare, the trap laid with the craquehhe and the firewing, and the defeat of all. She did not detail her battle with the Summoner however. Instead she simply left the incredulous federal agents and member of the fourth estate scratching their heads at all the exotic names and ideas of magic and summoning and Creatures of the Abyss.

Blood Raven made her way to the center of the island while the TV cameraman filmed Lighthammer as he fried the remaining zombie corpses with his lasers. January tried to follow, but was stopped by the reporter.

"Hi, Stormcrow! I'm Priya O'Neill, Local 5 News," the young woman introduced herself. "Can you tell me why he is burning those bodies?"

January noted that the cameraman turn to begin filming her. She tried not to squirm.

"Those remains are highly contagious," she explained. "They must be incinerated to insure that no one is infected through contact."

"And Blood Raven said they were zombies, actual zombies?" Priya was clearly incredulous.

"Sort of," January was keenly aware that Blood Raven was about to disappear from view. "As she said, they were craquehhe, a kind of revenant animated by the Summoner. They were not alive, not in any real sense of the word."

"I'm sorry, I have to go," January extricated herself as gently as she could. "We still have work to do."

January leaped after Blood Raven, literally, and trailed close behind her in moments. Her chest felt tight, and her heart increased its beat. Blood Raven was playing things close to the vest concerning the Summoner. Very close to the vest. She did not like that.

They came to the Summoner's body in the shadow of the newly reconstructed surveillance tower. He lay on his back under the summer sun. January noted the red hole bored through his chest, where his heart had once been. There was no sign of the organ. Just rent and charred flesh. His features were still covered by a mask. January braced herself when Blood Raven reached down and pulled it away to reveal the man's identity.

The elder heroine said nothing. She simply stared back at January, her mouth a hard line.

Thunder rolled overhead, and lightning cracked a deafening refrain. Even the earth rumbled a menacing song beneath their feet. January's fingers curled into fists. Her fingers dug into her palms, puncturing the hagfish fibers of her gauntlets. Like Blood Raven, she said nothing. She simply stared down at the face of their nemesis.

It was Julian.

It was her brother.

"You know who he is?" Vortex asked. January felt her hand upon her shoulder, but only vaguely. It felt like she was a thousand miles away. January said nothing in reply. She could only nod as thunder roared in the sky above.

"You killed him, didn't you?" Blackhawk accused.

"Nay," Blood Raven shook her head. "He was but a puppet. His master cut his strings. A man he called the Hierophant. He had gifted the Summoner an amulet for protection. But it was a trap. When the Summoner attempted to bargain with me, the Hierophant activated it. It ate through his chest before I could stop it."

"And this Hierophant?" January finally spoke.

Blood Raven leaned down to cover the Summoner's face once more. She rose again, and turned to look east across the lake to the Canadian shoreline.

"He teleported to safety after performing the deed," she said. "He must have observed the entire battle from afar."

"Then why didn't he fight?" Blackhawk said.

"Because he's a coward," January spat through clenched teeth. "Just like the Summoner. Always using someone else to fight his battles for him. Always looking for someone else to blame for his problems. Always..."

She let her words trail off. She was saying too much as it was. She could not afford to make this personal. Not here in front of everyone.

"Okay, I'm not a telepath, but even I can tell that there's a lot more going on here than you two are saying." Blackhawk grumbled. Then she held up her hands in concession. "But you know what, it's your business, not mine. I'm out of here."

"Wait!" Stormcrow glanced back to the reporter and her cameraman, who now walked toward them from the beach. "It is personal. This isn't the time or place for more than that. Thank you for your help today. If you want to know more, we'll talk."

The Canadian nodded to January, then shot a glance at Blood Raven. "See how easy that was?" There was no concealing the sharpness in her tone. Clearly the two had history, and not all of it good.

The adept of metal and magnetism rose into the air and turned about. Then she shot to the east, and quickly vanished over the horizon.

"Come Stormcrow," Blood Raven's voice brought January's gaze back to earth. "We must find the summoning circle."

"I saw the Abyssal emerge from the trees on the west side of the island." January was all business now. She did not want to think of anything else. She did not want to feel anything else. She and Blood Raven had work to do. That was something she could concentrate on. Her brother... Well that could wait.

The two women stepped into the trees, while Vortex followed close behind. Ôkami had disappeared, as was his wont. But Lighthammer did join them in a flash of silver. Behind them the Coast Guard personnel surrounded the body of the Summoner, and blocked the reporter from access to it.

They found the summoning circles soon enough. It was a small island after all. It was similar to Ferndale. The same three circles were present, one for the Summoner, one for the Abyssal, and one for the sacrifice. This time however, the complexity of the symbols that rimmed and linked them was lacking. It was stripped down to the barest essentials, extremely minimalist in fact. There was hardly anything to it at all.

There was nothing minimal about the blood and gore that stretched from the sacrificial circle to the summoning one however. Like at Ferndale, that was a phantasmagoria of horror. Vortex turned away, and January thought she heard the other woman retching. Lighthammer said nothing. He just stared with a hard look.

"This would have been quick," Blood Raven observed. "They have evolved once more, beyond the teachings of the Rauðskinna. They have distilled it to the bare essence. Soon they may be able to perform the summoning without even need of the circles."

"They can do that?" Now January was surprised.

"In this day and age - after Tunguska - that is anyone's speculation." Blood Raven shrugged her shoulders. "Magic is so much more powerful now, so much easier. The old ways, the slow ways, are rarely necessary anymore."

"Okay, so who was that poor bastard in there," Lighthammer did speak now. He stepped up to the circles, and leaned down to look over the red mess within. As with the previous summoning in Ferndale, not a drop of blood was to be found outside of the inscribed lines. The horror was entirely contained within.

Blood Raven sent a tendril of power into the remains, and fished out a bent piece of plastic. It was a driver's license. She pulled it close, and held it up to the computer mounted in her wrist to get a good picture of it. Then she turned the card over and scanned the barcode on the rear. Finally she laid it back with the body.

"Rafael Laurenti," she murmured. "Cray, get me the details. I shall inform his next of kin when we are finished."

"So which one of them did this?" January stared back the way they had come from, to where her brother's body lay with a hole in his chest. "Was it... him... or this Hierophant?"

"Who was that Summoner back there?" Vortex had found her voice again. She almost railed at January. "Blackhawk was right, you know that guy don't you?"

It was Lighthammer who stepped up and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, I don't know either, but it's on the down low for a reason, aight?"

But Vortex shrugged the taller man off with a sharp gesture. She reached out to January and grabbed hold of her arm.

"Ja-" she cut herself off before finishing January's name. "Stormcrow, what's going on, who is this guy? You can talk to me."

"I said not now!" It was January's turn to shake off Vortex's attempt to reach out. She pushed away from her, and faced Blood Raven. "Was it him, this time and at Ferndale? Did he kill these people?"

"He claimed that he never killed anyone, but take that for what little it is worth." Blood Raven considered. "However, I encountered both him and the firewing together. I believe that he brought the elemental here, once it was clear that their trap had drawn us in. He was probably waiting with it somewhere else. The Hierophant must have done this deed. Then teleported to safety."

"But he was still a part of it," January growled.

"He was still a part of it," Blood Raven agreed. "Even if he had not known that the Ferndale summoning would result in a human sacrifice. He surely would have this time. That aside, today was an assassination attempt, meant for both of us. That is clear."

January nodded. Thunder and lightning still roared overhead. But no raindrops fell. She remembered the last time she had seen her brother. He had insulted not only her, but Avery as well. Then he had fled to his bedroom. She had wanted to kill him then. If only she had...

She brought up Sága, and punched her screen. The phone interface came up, and initiated a call. A moment later a woman's voice came over the speaker.

"This is the Attorney General," Dana Essen's voice came out. "Are you out at Gull Island Stormcrow? Are you ok? What happened?"

"The Summoner is dead," January said plainly. "He laid a trap for us. He failed. He was working with another, named the Hierophant. That is who killed him. The Hierophant escaped. But we are gathering evidence."

"Do you know who the Summoner was?" AG Essen replied. "I can get it over to the state police immediately."

"His name was-" Blood Raven was standing beside her in a flash. Her hand yanked Sága away from January's lips. The elder heroine's eyes burned hot crimson, and her cape snapped about her, even though there was no breeze.

"What do you think you are doing!"

"He's dead," January replied evenly. "They have to know. His family needs to know, so they can bury him. Just like the victim's family."

Blood Raven slumped her shoulders in defeat. She said nothing. She just stepped away, and turned her back as January gave her brother's name to Michigan's top prosecutor.

"Julian Ward."

Lighthammer started at the last name. He knew it after all. January had told it to him after Cedar Point. He stared from her, to the trees that screened the Summoner's body, and back to January again. He said nothing. He was that professional at least. But clearly he was disturbed.

Vortex gasped out loud. She knew who January was as well, even if she had not been told about her family. January wanted to reach out and accept the comfort that she offered. But she could not. The glacier that had frozen over her heart precluded that. She was glad her brother was dead, because right now she wanted to kill him. She was going to have to tell her mother what he was, and what he had done, and that he was dead. That would destroy her.

"We shall inform his next of kin, just as we shall for today's victim." Blood Raven's words were a mirror to January's mind. Her voice was loud, so that the attorney general must have heard it through Sága's interface.

"We have failed them both this day."

* * *

[Renee]

Ha yeah, Poe, or FSK (Francis Scott Key) would be a cool B'more name.

Yes, it took ALL of them to defeat the Firewing, this is true. I agree it's neat having a large team of heroes going at it too. You're slowly compiling your own Marvel Superverse.

I love how they're being interrogated by Coast Guard. If they were part of any official organization like that, the heroes would definitely be put on leave by now, while investigations are pending.

You got the 'obvious question' aspects of reporters down really good. They ask such obvious questions, I suppose, because they are trying to ask the questions a lot of their viewers (who are not there) would ask. At least that's my theory.

WHOA. Holy [censored]. Her brother was the Summoner! ... Wait, whose brother are we talking about? Jan's or Raven's? I'm assuming it's Jan's brother, since she's really upset by now.

Okay, I see. January's brother. That's insane. So he somehow kept his identity secret from his own sister. Damn. I can see why there's so much disagreement at the end. Vortex's head must be spinning.

This post has been edited by Renee: Feb 22 2022, 03:12 PM

[Acadian]

A very powerful episode with a huge surprise. Your use of thunder and lightning to reflect Jan’s mood here was very effective.

We know of the tension between Vortex and Ôkami. . . and we now see the tension between Blood Ravena and Blackhawk.

’She was glad her brother was dead, because right now she wanted to kill him.’
- - That is one upside to the outcome. If anyone deserved their fate it was certainly Julian. As Jan goes on to point out to herself though, telling her mother about Julian will be . . . challenging.

I like the way you contrasted Lighthammer's reaction to that of Vortex. The former displayed his worldly experience and maturity very smoothly. Vortex, on the other hand, was totally in character to mix concern and an impatient desire for more info - even a bit of anger that the woman she loves was reluctant to share. Jan is absolutely right though that this was not the time. Later.

We will hope that Jan is right to overrule Blood Raven’s concern about revealing the family connection and that it does not compromise Stormcrow’s identity. Honestly, the Coast Guard has custody of the body and could, along with law enforcement, doubtless identify the remains as Julian anyway.

[SubRosa]

Renee: You are right, in that I am slowly building up a whole world full of supers, either by hearing their names dropped like Heisenberg, or meeting them face to face. That will continue to the end of season one.

Yep, The Summoner was January's brother. I was tempted to do some scenes from his pov in the earlier books, but decided against it. I wanted to keep the surprise. He kept his identity just as secret as January keeps her own a secret. For the same reasons.


Acadian: I have not actually worked out the details. But I do know that Blood Raven and Blackhawk have worked together in the past. If you could call them both working on the same case and Blood Raven not wanting to have a partner 'working together'. As people have noted, Blood Raven has been active for 50 years in Detroit, and she has never had a partner, until January came along. She prefers to work alone. Or at least did, until January.

The contrast between reactions of all was indeed something I used to show a little more of their character. Lighthammer being a professional, and Vortex clearly not.

This whole thing is going to put a lot of strain on January and Hannah's relationship, and surprise, January is not going to handle it very well.

You are right that the law will definitely ID Julian's body. Though Blood Raven could have destroyed it if she was really serious as well. In any case, now January is going to have to deal with the fallout of having the press become very interested in her personal life.






As always, January's Mom's apartment in Manis Manor Apartments can be found on the Stormcrow Google Map


Book 8.28 - Blood

January and Blood Raven soared across Lake St. Clair. Not a word passed between them. January did not know what the other woman was thinking. She did not know what she was thinking herself. Except that she dreaded facing her mother in the next few minutes. Other than that, she was having a hard time processing anything at all.

They were over land in a few minutes, and followed the main streets to her mother's new apartment. The complex was located on 12 Mile road. A large shopping plaza was located beyond it, at the intersection with Van Dyke. While barely half a mile to the north lay the Warren City Center.

They came down in a patch of grass that lay between four identical buildings of red brick. Each rose up two stories. There was a faux Neo-Classical entrance on either side, with square white columns that rose from cement porches, to long covered balconies overhead. It was easy to see that there were four apartments to each side of the buildings, two on the ground floor, and two above, each with its own porch or balcony.

A woman sitting on one such balcony dropped the book that she had been reading and nearly fell from her chair in shock. On the other hand, the trio of children playing on the lawn all cheered at January's approach. January wanted to force a smile to her lips for them, or at least a wave. But she could not bring herself to do it. Instead she followed Blood Raven within, and climbed to the second floor.

Blood Raven knocked, and they waited. January hoped that the children would not follow them inside. Normally she would love to bring some measure of light and warmth to people's lives, no matter what their age. But not right now.

Her mother Barbara answered the door before that could happen however. Her long red hair and ruddy features were shadowed in the dim light. For the sun, which had just been shining brilliantly above, was now shrouded by dark clouds. She still wore her work clothes - in this case a green skirt and white blouse - and January could see her blue cardigan tossed over the back of the couch inside.

She stared at Blood Raven in a mixture of surprise and awe. The elder heroine tended to have that effect on people. January could sense that she was making an effort to rein her aura in. But even without her magical atmosphere of intimidation, Blood Raven still had a history - and a reputation - that preceded her wherever she went. Meeting her was not the kind of thing anyone ever forgot.

Barbara's eyes flicked from Blood Raven to Stormcrow. Again, January tried to smile. But she could not lift her features from their somber cast. January noted the TV playing in the living room. It was a local news station, showing footage of the battle at Gull Island.

"Barbara Ward, née Ryan?" Blood Raven asked. Her mother nodded, and the elder heroine continued. "We come bearing tragic news. There is no way this blow might be softened. Your son... has died today. We bear you our most heartfelt sorrow over your loss."

"No," Barbara backed away, deeper into the living room. Her face turned white as a sheet. She gripped her hands around her torso in a tight clinch. "No, no, it can't be. You're wrong, it was someone else. It wasn't my Julian."

"We have not erred," Blood Raven entered the apartment, and January followed behind. "Julian Ward's remains will be taken into custody by the authorities for their investigation. I expect they shall notify you shortly as well, and come to question you."

"How, how did he..." Barbara turned from Blood Raven to the television set. Video footage from phones splashed across the screen, showing the battle in vivid color. At the same time the news anchor announced that the Summoner had been killed in the fighting, but only after having slain an innocent bystander before it had begun.

Barbara turned back and understanding dawned upon her drawn features. "He was there, wasn't he? He was murdered by that Summoner, wasn't he? Why didn't you stop it!"

"He was the Summoner," now January finally forced words from her mouth. To underscore her statement, thunder rolled deeply outside, while black clouds roiled across the sky.

Barbara stared from one of them to the other. For a moment her face was as expressionless as stone. Then something seemed to click inside her brain. She launched herself upon Blood Raven, and beat her fists furiously against her face. This was no random flailing. January's mother knew how to fight. She had taught January karate after all. But no amount of mortal power punches could make an impression upon the elder heroine. She simply stood by impassively while Barbara vented her rage.

"You killed him!" she cried.

"Nay," Blood Raven shook her head. "His accomplice did the deed. A man called the Hierophant. I believe he has been using your son this entire time. When Julian sought to bargain with us, the Hierophant slew him."

Barbara backed away. The outburst of violent energy had clearly brought her no relief. Tears streamed down her face, and once more she futilely hugged herself. January could not stop herself from reaching out and taking her mother in her arms. She resisted at first, but after a moment she allowed January to pull her in and hold her close. January held her and rocked her slowly in her arms for long, long moments.

"We are so, so sorry..." she managed to say, "it's why we came to tell you in person."

"We must take our leave now," Blood Raven murmured from the doorway. "There are others we must speak with, including the boy's father. However, we have already informed your daughter. She will be here shortly."

"Yes, we have to go," January stepped away as well.

"Wait," Barbara stopped them with a word. "Why? Why would he do any of this?"

"That remains to be seen," Blood Raven replied. "I suspect he was a pawn of this Hierophant. When we apprehend him, we may learn more."

"And when you do catch this Hierophant?" Barbara left her words hanging in the air between them.

"I shall end him," Blood Raven's eyes glowed scarlet in the dim light.

* * *

January followed Blood Raven to their next stop. It was not to her old home in Warren. Rather it was to the Macomb Community College South Campus. There at Cray's direction they found January's father Romulus. He was in the middle of giving a lecture on ancient history. At least until January and Blood Raven entered the room.

Again, January allowed Blood Raven to take the lead. To be honest, she was still reeling from the encounter with her mother. She was aware of Blood Raven using her hypnotic voice to make all of the students leave the classroom. Once they were alone, she broke the news to Romulus. He did not say a word. He did not even look up after Julian's name was uttered. He simply sat at his desk, put his head in his hands, and wept.

January did not know what to think. On one hand she could still remember the hateful things her father had said about her. On the other hand he was in pain, and that could not help but pull at January's heart. In the end she laid what she hoped was a comforting hand upon his shoulder, before following Blood Raven out.

That left the family of the victim, Rafael Laurenti. Cray had his address, and led them there. It was a modest two story home in Detroit near Southfield and Grand River Road. They came down on the front lawn, to find a young girl playing with a hula hoop, an ipod clipped to her upper arm. She stared up in shock to see the two superheroines approach, and her hoop fell to the grass.

"Are you..." she stammered.

"Yes, we are," Blood Raven answered. She nodded to the house. "Is that your parents I spy within?"

The child nodded. January wanted to force a smile to reassure her, but again she could not. She was on autopilot now, just following along while Blood Raven did all the talking. Soon enough they stood within the living room, and the elder heroine told Rafael's parents that their son would never come home again.

She looked at the mantle over their fireplace, and saw numerous pictures there. It was not hard to imagine which one was Rafael. He was younger than the father, but bore his strong Roman nose and tightly curled hair. He had inherited his bright eyes from his mother, and had the same wide grin that she bore in the family pictures.

It took every ounce of January's willpower to keep from crying. As it was her eyes were bleary from the tears that she held back, and she had to sharply inhale to keep her nose from running. She could not imagine how Blood Raven could do this with such grace and coolness. It was just so soul-crushing. Fighting monsters was easy. Telling people their loved ones were dead was another matter entirely.

She said as much when they walked out the door, and were alone once more.

"I always try to inform the families of the fallen," Blood Raven responded. "There are some of us who treat this life as a game. This reminds me that is not so. Their loss is not simply our failure. Their lives had value, and meaning, even if we never knew them, or ever would know them."

"But your mother needs her daughter now, not a superhero." Blood Raven nodded back to the east, where the city of Warren lay. "Let that be your concern in the coming days. Leave the rest to me."

January nodded. Before she could reply, Blood Raven's body shattered into a dozen ravens. The sleek, black corvids croaked and screeched, and their wings beat furiously in the air. The conspiracy of ravens darted high into the cloud-draped sky, and vanished over the rooftops.

[Acadian]

A very unpleasant task. As Jan noted, Blood Raven really shined with her grace and choice of words. ‘Tis a task that the Stormcrow will doubtless need to develop – but not today and not involving her own family.

You continue to consistently nail what I have come to expect in terms of Blood Raven’s anachronistic speaking with statements such as “Barbara Ward, née Ryan?”, “We have not erred.”, “Nay,”, and “Is that your parents I spy within?"

Risky taking Stormcrow along – especially when notifying Barbara. Blood Raven has learned that she could not stop her younger charge anyway though. I’m hoping Barbara was too distraught to recognize her daughter’s voice or hug though.


Nit? ’That left the family of the victim, Rafael Laurenti. Cray had his address, and led him {?} there.’
I’m not sure I understand what you mean here. I guessing Cray’s voice led them (Blood Raven and Stormcrow) to the decedent’s home?

[SubRosa]

Acadian: This is one of those areas that Blood Raven has plenty of sad experience in. I suspect that most supers don't do this kind of thing. They leave informing the families of the dead to the police and the like. But as Blood Raven said, the lives of the innocents are their responsibility. Deaths are their failures, and not to be taken lightly.

As you said, it is risky putting Stormcrow in the same room as Barbara. But as you noted, there was no way of keeping January away. I have thought about people recognizing her, and implementing things like a voice changer built into the Stormcrow suit. On the other hand, I am reminded that all Superman has to do is put on a pair of glasses and no one can tell he is Clark Kent. I am not going to make it that easy. But I decided not to really worry about requiring a need to go to extreme lengths to protect secret IDs either. It does not seem like that would really serve the story, and just end up being a waste of time and effort on my part. So basically if you are wearing a mask, you are ok. Unless someone does some serious research, or has a mind-reading power, or the like.

Thanks for the nit. That was supposed to be: Cray had his address, and led him them there.







Book 8.29 - Blood

January returned to the Witch House. She could feel every second ticking away that she was not there for her mother. She could still hear her sobs, and see the tears that splashed her cheeks. Just as those of her father, and of the Laurentis. This had been a terrible day.

All of the years she had watched videos of superheroes in action on the internet, she had never stopped to imagine what life was like in the aftermath. What it was like for the people who had lost their lives. Naturally white hats did everything in their power to protect people, to the point where deliberately endangering civilians was a common tactic employed by black hats. But sometimes the white hats failed. Possessing superpowers did not make one omnipotent, much less able to solve every problem in the world.

Of course the man who had died at Ferndale Pride had brought that home to her. Edward Pressman. She had read about him the following day. Had her brother murdered him to anchor the djieien in our world? Or had that been the work of the Hierophant? Did it really matter which of them had done the deed in the end? Either way, a man was still dead.

She could not stir an ounce of compassion for her brother. She had known what kind of person he was for a long, long time. But discovering that he was a supervillain was still startling. It was not the kind of thing anyone ever expected to learn about their sibling. But it was not surprising either. It was entirely in Julian's character after all, or more precisely, his lack of it. The only thing that did surprise her was that he had the guts to do it.

She flew down to the back yard of the Witch House and transformed into her normal clothes, a tee and miniskirt that she had been wearing in the hopes of impressing Hannah. Well, maybe impressing was not exactly the right word. But she remembered she had wanted to make an impression at least.

She went straight upstairs and found something less... impressionable to wear. She settled on a pair of tights and a WWF tee, the wildlife foundation kind, not the old wrestling kind. She emptied out her gaming backpack of manuals and the folder with all of her character sheets, and began to stuff in spare changes of clothing.

"That's it?" Hannah burst into her bedroom like an oncoming storm. She too had changed out of the backup Stormcrow suit and into her normal clothing once more. "You are just going to take off without another word."

"Hannah, this isn't the time for this," January murmured. She continued packing, and walked into her bathroom to retrieve her toothbrush. Hannah followed along right behind her.

"When is the right time? Tomorrow? Next week? Next month? That was your brother who is dead right? And you have nothing to say about it?" Hannah reached out and took January's arm. "Honey, let me in, I'm trying to help you."

"There's nothing to say about it!" January lashed out with more invective than she had intended. She shrugged off Hannah's outstretched hand, and marched back to the bedroom. "My brother was a cruel, bigoted, narcissistic bastard, and he got what he deserved!"

"I'm sure you don't mean that," Hannah tried to placate her. "There must have been something good about him?"

"When I cut my wrists, he claimed I did it just to get attention," January fumed. "When I came out, he said it was just me wanting everyone to look at me. When the bullies at school beat me up, he said I was asking for it. That's not even getting into the other things he's said about trans people, or gay people, or immigrants, or people of color. He'd have hated you."

"I'm sorry?" Hannah said, clearly fumbling for words. "Look January, I want to try to make things better, however I can. I am here for you."

"I have to go to my mother's," January stared down at her backpack. "This is hard on her. I'm going to stay there for the next few days, probably the weekend. But you can stay here."

"Great, I'll come with you," Hannah declared.

"I don't think that's a good idea," January shook her head.

Why not?" Hannah looked nearly as hurt as her mother.

"This is not the time to introduce my mother to my new girlfriend," January fought hard, but she could not restrain the sarcasm from her voice. "Hi ma, sorry your murderous supervillain son is dead, but... here's Hannah! Maybe after the funeral..."

"Fine," Hannah's features turned to stone. "If that's the way you want it, I'll just go home."

"Hannah, I...," January instantly deflated. "I didn't mean it to sound that way, I-"

But the world warped in around Hannah's frame, twisting and bending the fabric of spacetime like an old blanket. It swam around her in a vortex of bright colors, which all condensed down into a single point of impenetrable black. She vanished into that singularity, and there was no trace of her when reality snapped back to normal.

January growled in frustration. Everything she said just came out wrong! Still, she took this encounter with Hannah as a warning. She would have to watch her words with her mother. She probably still thought that her son was a perfect angel who could do no wrong. Every murderer's mother seemed to think that. While January knew the truth, she also knew that the truth was not what her mother needed right now.

So she slung her backpack across her shoulders and went down to the garage. She pulled out her Victory and rode to her mother Barbara's apartment in a haze. She was thankful that she did not get into an accident and wreck her bike, or hurt anyone, because she barely paid attention to the world around her. All she could see was her mother's tears.

That night and the next few days went by in a blur. The police did come. In this case it was a pair of state troopers. They questioned both January and her mother about her brother's activities. Not that they had anything of value to tell them. He had been living in the University of Michigan dorms for years now. He usually only came home to have his clothes washed, by Barbara of course. In any case, whatever else Julian had been, he had clearly known how to keep a secret.

January's grandmother Sarah came from Livonia the next day. January had not seen her since Christmas. This was obviously not such a festive occasion. The two of them took turns sitting with January's mother. Barbara alternated between sitting blankly and weeping uncontrollably. All the while January's hatred for her brother grew. He had done this to her, along with all the other evils he had wrought.

The reporters came as well. Blood Raven had once warned her about this. Now January saw what she had meant. They all wanted to get the supervillain's mother on TV. They literally camped out on the sidewalk outside the apartment. So far as January could tell, they slept in their cars in the parking lot. They had to lock all the windows and shut the blinds, after one climbed up onto the balcony and tried to poke a camera through the screen door.

Through all of this January had to release her next edition of Crow Tales, featuring the novel Nemesis, by April Daniels. That was something she produced as Stormcrow, not January Ward. She could not afford to leave any breadcrumbs between the two identities. So she took some time to knock out the week's blog post while her grandma kept her mom busy. Thankfully she had read the book already and done most of the work. She only really had to post it and do some final editing. But still, it was a stark reminder of the perils of navigating two lives, which could never be seen to intersect.

[Renee]

Goodness, what a busy life she leads. She's flying to meet her mother just after defeating all those monsters at Jobbie Nooner, damn. Why is she nervous, though?

Yeah I can see why that one woman drops her book as the two heroes approach! I imagine I'd do the same! ... Whoa, whoa ... is January still suited up as Stormcrow? Well yeah, she is, if she's just flown. Okay, I get it now. Holy frijoles. I wonder if mom will recognize.

Yikes, they're doing a death notification! And mom does not even recognize daughter!

I notice January being a little torn between being herself (smiling at children) and becoming more hardened.

You continue to consistently nail what I have come to expect in terms of Blood Raven’s anachronistic speaking with statements such as “Barbara Ward, née Ryan?”, “We have not erred.”, “Nay,”, and “Is that your parents I spy within?"

I love the way she speaks too.

Yeah, it must be reeling to know your own brother was a villain. Did he also know his sister = Stormcrow? Well know. Because if he did, he'd surely blab it to the entire world just to spite her.

Hannah is so understanding. But still, it's their first fight. That surely must be saddening. See, their relationship is moving right along at its elevated pace.

Yeah, what a tough week this has been. A real rollercoaster series of events. I'm really curious about Ryo, too.

This post has been edited by Renee: Mar 5 2022, 12:34 PM

[Acadian]

Regarding her mask’s solid effectiveness at helping hide Stormcrow’s identity, I think your approach of not overthinking it is wise. Superman/Clark Kent is a superb example. Same with her voice.

*

Poor Jan. Wrestling with anger over her brother and sadness over her mom. Then everything coming out wrong as she unintentionally takes some of it out on Hannah.. Tough task she has, consoling her mother over the well-deserved death of an evil butthead. Her brother’s death and the pain it is causing her mother is just one more reason to loathe Julian. Even as she needs to pay plenty of attention to preserving her identity with her publishing and the press vulturing just outside the house.

[SubRosa]

Renee: Julian did not know that January was Stormcrow. I am sure his kneejerk reaction would be to out her if he did know. Until he considered that the last time that happened it was the family of the superhero in question who were all killed, not the super himself. That would put him square in the crosshairs of every neo-Nazi in America, among others.

You called it with Hannah and their elevated relationship. They have only known another for two days at this point. It is all moving at lightspeed.


Acadian: January finds herself in a very difficult situation vis a vis her mother and her brother. Throw Hannah on top of that, and something had to give. This whole thing is a crash course in all the bad parts of being a superhero.






Book 8.30 - Blood

Blood Raven mimed throwing a punch at Hannah, who stood several feet away. The young woman flinched, and threw her hands up protectively. The space between them hardened into a barrier of nearly opaque energy. It let enough light through for Blood Raven to see Hannah's silhouette, but little else.

Blood Raven shook her head, and stood there waiting. After a few moments the force field vanished, leaving Hannah fully visible.

"You must do better than that," Blood Raven pulled her arms across her chest. "You can create your force fields at will now. That is good. But you must learn restraint. It would be most embarrassing were you to errantly spawn one when someone bumps into you at Burger Baron."

"I know, I know," the other woman shook her head. "I'm trying!"

"Then do so," Branwen declared. "There is no trying, no maybes, no mights. They all leave room for doubt. A conjure woman who doubts, is a conjure woman who fails. Banish these words from your vocabulary. Be absolute in your certainty. Do it or do not. There are no other options."

"Are you like, quoting Yoda or something?" Hannah wondered.

"You young ones and your films..." Blood Raven sighed. "I had this same conversation with January. My own teacher had this same conversation with me, long ago. Whether you are using meta-human abilities or using magic: the reality is the same. Your power is yours, and yours alone. It will respond to your will and nothing else. If you lack focus, if you doubt yourself, you will not control your power, it will control you. This is true of everyone, meta-human, magician, or mundane."

"I know, I know," Hannah raised her hands in frustration, and then clenched her fingers into fists. "I just... I can't concentrate right now."

"Because of January?" Blood Raven allowed the question to dangle like bait.

"I just, don't understand why she doesn't want to see me," Hannah walked in circles. "It's like, I don't even know her anymore."

"You never knew her in the first place," Blood Raven observed. "You literally met her three days ago."

"Oh don't you go all in on me too now," Hannah growled. "Now you sound like my mother."

Blood Raven gestured with a finger and loosed a tiny drop of aion. At her unspoken command a long bench of dark wood appeared in the sanctum. It was padded with bright red upholstery, and bore arm rests at either end that gently curled outward. She sat down at one end, and elegantly crossed her legs. It was just as she had been taught two and half centuries before at Mrs. Gibson's School for Proper Young Girls. Mrs. Gibson would be so pleased at her deportment.

"Your mother disapproves of your relationship?" she inquired, almost casually.

"No, I didn't tell her I was dating Stormcrow, if that's what you mean," Hannah huffed. But she did plop herself down upon the Victorian bench.

"But when you returned home, you did tell her that you had been living with someone?"

"Yes, I did," Hannah admitted. "I had to tell her something."

"And you should," Blood Raven replied. "She is your mother. If you share your life with her, she might even have useful advice to proffer, from time to time."

"My mother has no clue what life in the real world is like," Hannah groused. "She spends all her time at work coding, or at home coding, or checking up on me all the time, or making new rules for me, or planning out my life for me."

"Well, somewhere within all of that your mother did date a supervillain," Blood Raven observed. "She cannot be too basic."

"OMG, did you just talk like a real person?" Hannah laughed. She pulled her feet up onto the surface of the couch, and wrapped her arms around her legs. "I guess she did date a supervillain. I wonder if that's why she's, well, the way she is."

"It is the nature of parents to chafe over the well being of their issue," Blood Raven said. "They cast their oracles into the future, and see their children committing the same mistakes and enduring the same pains they have experienced themselves. They hope to spare their offspring such fates."

"Yeah well, maybe I want to make my own mistakes for myself!" Hannah cried.

"Now that is the wisest thing you have said yet, my young apprentice," Blood Raven slapped the cloth upholstery with delight. "Self awareness is the first step to true understanding."

"You know, you are really weird," Hannah noted. "And I don't just mean the crazy way you talk. I mean one minute your all 'grrrrr, do or do not!', and the next you are like this nice nana serving milk and cookies."

"We are all multitudes," Blood Raven explained. "We all have the capacity for compassion and cruelty, sobriety and gaiety, selfishness and sacrifice."

"Sacrifice," Hannah lowered her chin to her knees. "January places great store in that word. See, I can sound posh too. She's always doing everything for everyone else. Sometimes I think she forgets that she matters too. Sometimes I think she's afraid to do things for herself, because she thinks it would be selfish. Whenever someone needs something, she just runs off without a thought."

"Such as to her mother?" Blood Raven again dangled a question out as a lure.

"Oh, you aren't going to trap me that easily!" Hannah lifted her head and wagged a naughty finger at Blood Raven. "I get why she's at her mother's house. I'd be there too. I'm not jealous of her because she's with her grieving parent. I just want to be there with her."

"I understand that, and so does January," Blood Raven said. "If this were an ordinary situation... well I suppose it should be awkward in any event. Yet the fact remains that this is not ordinary. January shall never be ordinary and neither will you. Everything changes when you add this to the pile of life's cares."

Blood Raven swung the dragonsilk cape from her shoulders, and dropped it onto the bench between them for emphasis.

"January's brother was a supervillain, and he was murdered," Blood Raven said bluntly. "Even now the media seeks to transform her family into one of Mr. Barnum's circuses. Their scrutiny shall not fail to notice a girlfriend walking through their front door. You are a superhero now, just as January is. Neither of you can afford undue attention upon your personal lives. It is why the others keep their distance as well, and must continue to do so."

"That's why you got mad at her when she told the attorney general it was her brother," Hannah nodded.

"January was right to do so," Blood Raven sighed. "If he were to simply vanish, the wound would haunt his parents for the rest of their days. They need to know that Julian is dead so that they might one day move beyond it and heal. Unfortunately that meant revealing how and why he died as well."

"But you would have killed him too, wouldn't you?" Hannah said. "I've read about you. It wouldn't be your first time. That's why everyone thought you did it."

"Of course I would have killed him," Blood Raven declared. "There is no other recourse in this case. He can summon an Abyssal from the inside of a prison cell just as easily as anywhere else. Soon he would have been able to summon my father. What he knew cannot be allowed to spread to others. Else this world would literally cease to exist. January understands this, she would have done it too. She would not have liked it. She would have felt guilty about it afterward. But she would have done it in the end."

"But he was your what, great-great-grandson too right?" Hannah stared back in amazement. "If you knew it was him, you still would have done it?"

"Without hesitation," Blood Raven insisted. "He has been one of our suspects all along, as has January and her father. My father's blood is a curse. All who carry it are vulnerable to its horror."

"This is the life you have chosen for yourself Hannah, should you continue to walk this path," Blood Raven continued even as Hannah recoiled. "This is what being part of January's life entails. This threat will never end, never. Your father's life as a black hat was simple, and you learned just how dangerous that was when you were a child. January's life will never be so easy. Neither shall yours, should you be a part of that life."

"Now you're just trying to talk me out of seeing her," Hannah fumed.

"No, I am trying to talk you into seeing what lies before you," Blood Raven insisted. "You must be honest with yourself about the life you will lead with her, and you must honestly decide if that is something you can do. Otherwise it will poison your relationship. I speak from personal experience in these matters. You have just begun to see who and what January is. As I said before, look at her for who and what she really is. Not the glamour of the cape, or the excitement of the action, but who she is under it all."

Hannah sat there silently for long moments. Finally she looked back at Blood Raven.

"I'll think about what you said," she murmured.

Then reality warped around Hannah, and she vanished into thin air. Blood Raven did not feel her anywhere within the house, or on the grounds. She imagined that the young woman had returned to her mother's home in San Francisco. She appeared to have returned there after January had left, only returning to the sanctum for their practice session.

She prayed that her newest apprentice would indeed take her words to heart. She hoped beyond hope that she might indeed make a lasting relationship with her great-granddaughter. January seemed so happy when she was around. She was positively electrified, in spite of the terrible pun. Or to dare another pun, it was almost as if January had grown wings.

But she feared that it was not to be. Young love rarely was, as clichéd as that sounded. Hannah had been correct about one thing. Sometimes we did have to make our own mistakes. Where the heart was concerned, sometimes it seemed that mistakes were all there were to be made.

In any event, her practice session was now over. With a minor expenditure of aion, Blood Raven awakened the gateway enchanted into the sanctum. A moment later she stepped through, and stood within her apartment in the Griswold. She changed into ordinary attire with just a thought.

She had much work to do. Now that Julian had been identified as the Summoner, it stood to reason that there must be a link between him and the Hierophant somewhere. Cray was already combing through his internet history. It was up to her to interview his friends, his classmates, his teachers, his romantic partners, and everyone else he had been in contact with.

There was also the funeral to arrange. The medical examiner's office had yet to release Julian's remains. But in time they would. She must see to the interment. Many cemeteries would not serve a murderer, let alone a supervillain. Nor was it wise to bury one near the dwellings of their victims. Given the media attention, a viewing at a funeral home was out of the question. That at least simplified things, even though it would have offered an ideal opportunity to identify and interrogate Julian's peers.

Then there was Romulus. Between his own prejudices that alienated him from January, Barbara divorcing him, and now Julian's death, he was more alone than ever. The house in Warren that had once been so filled with the cacophony of life was now silent as a tomb. She would have to make time for her six-times great-grandson as well. At least Barbara had her mother and her daughter. Romulus had no one, his own parents having passed on years ago.

Finally, she would be remiss if she were not to visit Barbara as well. She was family also, even if not by blood. Given the curse of the latter, that was a blessing.

She had much to do.

[Renee]

Hee hee I would love to see Hannah spawn a force shield at Burger Baron! That wouid be fun. Hannah also reminds me of January in the way she speaks. These millennials, I tell ya...

Wow, Branwen is really really sort of harsh. But of course, she has to be. She has to push these newfound subjects of hers. Because not to do so could mean some even harsher realities coming true once they're all out in the field again, dueling with some monsters.

"You never knew her in the first place," Blood Raven observed. "You literally met her three days ago.

Hoy, the voice of reason! Young love strikes, and young love causes these two ladies to take things really fast. I get it. We've all been there.

Her mom has useful advice to proffer. Not offer, proffer. Wow, Hannah's really obsessed. I get it though. We've all been there, especially when young love strikes.