Episode: 6.21

--- Tempest ---

She landed on the rooftop, before dusting off her jacket and checking the sun.

(Still got a little bit.)

Back before he had to leave, she and Ariel had an agreement to meet up around sunset on the same rooftop he’d dropped her off at the first time they met. And while they did have a few other spots they’d meet up at depending on the situation, this was the only one she really considered their ‘usual place’.

Even with Ariel gone, she still frequently visited the area, something made evident by the Madness infused graffiti that covered the entire district, keeping people safe when she couldn’t.

Taking a seat on the edge of the building she brought her hands together and began weaving a veritable swarm of butterflies, each born from the concepts of [Safety] and [Happiness] so that they’d spread the feelings out to everyone across the city.

She watched as the last butterfly she made fluttered down to the street below instead of taking off to places unknown like the rest of its brethren, before catching sight of what had caught the little dream’s attention.

Down below was an obviously stressed out mother pushing a little toddler in a stroller, only to stop as her little dream began to flutter around the two, before landing just out of reach of the toddler and seemingly shaving years of stress off the mother as the little dream earned a giggle from the child.

She couldn’t help but smile, hoping each of her butterflies managed to perform a similar feat for someone else who might need a little pick-me-up after a long day.

“Always did like how your butterflies played with kids.” A voice commented from behind her, making her jump.

Heart pounding in her chest, and blade just a twitch from her fingers, she turned to face whoever had snuck up on her. Only to catch sight of Ariel with his hood still up as he shifted a bit on his backfoot, almost as if he was tempted to make a run for it, an idea that hurt when she realized it.

“Hey…” She waved her good mood taking a hit from her previous revelation.

Ariel rubbed the back of his neck, before giving her a half-hearted laugh, “Yeah, long time no see…”

“Yeah…” She nodded back more than a bit awkwardly, as they trailed off into silence.

(Damn it, this is not how I wanted this to go.)

“How… how’ve you been?” She asked, not really sure of what else she could say to end the silence.

“I’ve…” Ariel ran a hand down his face. “I’ve been as good as I can be… under the circumstances.”

That made her grimace, easily picturing how much he wasn’t telling her. “Sorry.”

Ariel shook his head before giving her an awkward smile. “Well, you’re looking good at least…” her partner paused for a moment, as his white pupils narrowed, and his eyes looked her over. “Actually…”

“W-what?” She stammered out suddenly feeling self-conscious as a bit of heat reached her face.

“Is that my old jacket?”

Her mind ground to a halt, as she realized that (yes, I did use Ariel’s jacket to make my current costume. Now, why did you have to notice that?!)

“Well, I used the same type of jacket.” She admitted, figuring if he managed to find a similar jacket to his old one, then she could’ve done just the same. “Figured it could be a sort of solidarity type of thing, once you left.” Which was her actual reason for using the old jacket he’d left her with after a fight with a particularly nasty Corrupted.

Ariel gave her a cocky grin, that she’d spent the last two years missing, and the last two seconds dreading. “Really, that must’ve been a challenge.”

(He knows!)

She pushed down that panicking thought and returned his smile with her own. “It wasn’t that hard,” (to go through my closet.)

“Huh,” Ariel nodded rubbing his chin, with an amused smirk. “It’s just these things are custom made, by an old… associate of mine.”

The way he said that meant it was one of his less than heroic friends, namely one she wouldn’t regularly associate with or know about.

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“My friend Ness is big on leather.” The imp actually made all of his jackets himself.

Ariel nodded, before waving a hand just a little higher than himself. “That’s the tall guy with the guns and a little too much leather, right?”

When he wasn’t chibi-fied? “Yes.”

Ariel opened his mouth to keep pressing, the inescapably honest Deviant having always had just a little too much fun calling people out on their lies, (namely me.)

“So, you’ve been keeping an eye on Baskerville?” She cut in before he could actually catch her.

Ariel gave her an amused half-chuckle, fully aware she was trying to change the subject, before nodding as he walked over to the roof edge and leaned against the railing. “Yeah, wanted to make sure everything was alright, even with me out of town.” His white pupils stared at her, not in a particularly threatening way, but in that slightly too intense way all Malcontent seemed to have. “There’ve been a lot of heroes popping up lately.”

“Uh, yeah. You inspired a fair number of people before you left.” It was a half-truth, partially because she didn’t want to lie to Ariel, but also because she didn’t feel like explaining everything, she’d learned about Wonderlanders in his absence. (Not now anyway…)

Ariel hummed before looking away, as the inner cynic she saw on rare occasion broke through. “I’m sure.”

(Oh, qíshì…)

Realizing she’d waited more than long enough to bring it up, she reached into her coat, twisting reality ever so slightly to reach into one of her pocket-dimensions, before pulling out a folder and handing it to her knight.

“Here.”

Ariel blinked before accepting the folder. “What are these?”

“Revocation papers.”

Ariel gave her a confused look. “Um, what?”

Knowing how important this was she took a deep breath and counted to four before letting it out and looking Ariel in the eye. “Those are revocation papers, filed through the hero’s guild, with support from a number of high-ranking heroes, as well as the backing of the Sanctuary Captain of New Haven, officially ending the Kill Warrant for one Ariel C. Black.”

Ariel stared at her his white pupils dilated to the point of consuming nearly all of the black of his eyes.

She pulled out a pen and offered it. “All it needs is your signature to be finalized.”

“I-I…” Ariel looked at the folder, his eyes burning through its contents at a pace she couldn’t hope to match. Finally, as Ariel swallowed down whatever he was feeling, he looked back at her. “I thought… I thought Kill Warrants couldn’t be revoked…”

“There’s a bunch of hoops you have to jump through that make it really difficult, but you’re actually the fourth person to have their warrant revoked.” She explained before waving the pen in front of his face. “Or you will be once you sign, at least.”

Ariel’s eyes darted between her face and the pen, his pupils slowly contracting into pinpricks.

(Huh?)

“Tempest, what did you do to get these?”

She waved off his concerns. “It’s not important, all that matters is-”

“Tempest.”

She felt something brush against her mind, a force that would have anyone not touched by Madness bending over backwards to listen to the ferocious force’s callus compulsion.

Ariel closed his eyes, having realized what he’d done, before letting out a shaky breath of black mist, and looking at her with a pleading expression. “Please… what… what did this cost you?”

She stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out what was wrong, why her empathic abilities were picking up so much [Fear] and [Concern] from her partner, before remembering something he used to say whenever they were dealing with the Dark Corruptor, and it finally clicked in her head.

(“Power has a price; the dealer just tells you it’s free.”)

A soft smile made its way to her lips.

(He’s scared of what I gave up for him…)

“You need to get the unanimous backing of at least three different branches of the hero’s guild, each with at least five members with a minimum of a year’s service. Then you need a Sanctuary Captain to sponsor your request, to the board of directors. Once you have approval you have to get the papers to the warrant’s target and get them to sign the revocation, something that is unsurprisingly difficult when they think everyone is trying to kill them. From there you send a copy of the forms with proof of identity to the main branches of the hero’s guild, Sanctuary, the local government, the state government, and a final form to the federal.”

Ariel ran his tongue over his teeth as he glanced between her and the papers once more. “H-how did you get so much support?”

She winced, knowing he wouldn’t like her answer, even if it wasn’t the worst answer she could give. “Do… you remember when the Warmaker passed through New Haven last year?”

Ariel blinked before paling, “You didn’t. Please tell me you didn’t pick a fight with a horseman over me?!”

She shook her head. “I didn’t.” She would’ve if that’s what it took, but in this case, “I was already in town visiting a relative of mine, and I couldn’t just do nothing when the psycho-bitch started killing people.” The Warmaker was one of the few people she actively and freely insulted, after what the (bitch) pulled back in New Haven.

“After helping with that mess, both Captain Thorne, and the New Haven branch of the hero’s guild, were more than happy to help me.”

“And the other two branches?”

“The Amityville branch owed my…” she sighed, knowing she was letting a Jack-ass win an argument, but figured it wasn’t worth it at the moment, “adoptive brother and Ashe, erm, Captain Thorne, a couple of… pretty big solids.” Given how they were the only living members of the group that fought the Dead Doctor, that may’ve been a bit of an understatement.

“And the last branch?” Ariel pushed, completely unwilling to let this go.

“Is the Baskerville branch.”

Ariel blinked. “What?”

She took a deep breath and spoke in the professional tone she used whenever answering questions on this topic. “The Baskerville branch of the hero’s guild is currently comprised of four full-time heroes and two part-time, all of whom are led by Tempest, the Dream-weaver.” And if she was responsible for the existence of all those heroes, well, (I’m not telling anyone.)

Ariel just stared at her for a moment a myriad of emotions flickering across his face. He opened his mouth only to close it, unable to turn whatever he was feeling into words.

“Whirlwind, I…” Ariel swallowed something, before lunging forward and wrapping her in the strongest hug she’d ever received, filling her with a warmth she didn’t even hesitate to return as she rested her head on his shoulder and hugged him back.

There were still a few things that they needed to take care of, before his Kill Warrant was actually canceled, but those could wait for now because…

(I’ve got my partner back.)