Emmett found Athena the next morning, hunched over the magic staff. She gave him a quick nod while staying focused on her work. Emmett didn’t want to bother her, so he started his morning routine of grabbing a cup of instant coffee, checking servers with TINA, and practicing controlling his nanites. Clara spent most of the morning meditating and doing yoga.
Occasionally, Athena muttered what Emmett assumed were magic words, but otherwise, she didn’t talk to him.
She didn’t talk to him or Clara at all that day.
Athena took a break around lunch. Emmett had run out of raw materials, and Athena said she would hunt for more appliances for him. He’d been tempted to tag along with her before, especially now that his nanite disguise was functional, but Athena’s mood dissuaded him today.
As soon as Athena slipped out the window, Clara jumped up from the floor, came over, and sat down next to Emmett at the worktable.
“I’m worried about Athena.”
Emmett leaned back in his chair, feeling the tightness in his shoulders. “I’m worried about her, too.”
Athena had always been secretive, but Emmett had always chalked it up to her being a super. She dodged questions or flat out refused to answer. That was normal for a super. It was only because of how much they’d been through already that Emmett even bothered to ask Athena any personal questions at all.
But things had changed. Emmett and Clara were helping Athena with a personal mission, and something about the stolen necklace and the Felwardens had clearly gotten under Athena’s skin. It was like a switch had flipped. One minute, Athena’s using her powers to make barriers and block attacks, and the next, she’s using it to cut through solid stone.
Whatever was going on, Athena needed to level with them.
~
Athena didn’t come back until late that Thursday night, hauling two mini fridges with her. She dropped them off and went straight to her room and shut the door.
The next morning, Emmett and Clara woke to the smell of pancakes. Athena set up an electric griddle on the counter and looked like she was already halfway done making breakfast. Two huge stacks of pancakes sat beside the griddle. When Athena saw them, she pushed a set of paper plates their way.
Emmett offered to make everyone coffee, which he did while keeping one eye on the strange scene in front of him. Athena watched the griddle with the same intensity she did while fighting supers.
Athena glanced at the bowl full of batter and sighed. “I never know how much to make. Hope you guys are okay with leftovers.”
Clara sat down at the end of the counter, and she and Emmett shared a glance while coffee brewed.
Athena pushed a bottle of maple syrup over to them. “Did you know that the first recorded mention of pancakes was around 500 BCE? They were called flat cakes or griddle cakes. Of course, ancient people made them before then, but that’s the earliest written record.”
Emmett didn’t know how to respond to that. Clara, on the other hand, replied, “That’s an interesting fact to start a conversation with.”
Athena ignored the comment. Silence stretched on, punctuated by sizzling batter and a boiling kettle.
A few minutes later, the bowl of batter was empty and there was a third stack of pancakes on the counter. Emmett finished making coffee and took a seat beside Clara. Both of them tentatively started on their pancakes.
Athena leaned on the counter. “This isn’t easy for me.”
Clara replied, “It’s easier to talk than it is to keep secrets.”
Athena chuckled. “It’s not about the secrets, not entirely.” She gestured to the three of them. “This isn’t easy for me: Opening up… having partners… friends, even.”
Emmett asked, “What about Luna and Borealis?”
“They’re old friends. Not old old friends, mind you. But old enough… I haven’t told them everything either.”
Emmett and Clara stared at Athena, waiting for more.
Athena looked at both of them before taking a small bite of her own food. “Why did you want to become a mask? Clearly you want something out of all this hero stuff, or you wouldn’t train as hard as you do.”
Clara didn’t hesitate. “I want to get my dad back.”
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“That’s right now. Ignore the present situation. What do you want?”
“I want to be able to use my powers without needing to wear a suit. To do that, I need to be able to control myself. I don’t want to worry about hurting people close to me…”
“That’s a noble goal.” Athena turned expectantly toward Emmett. “What about you? Why are you doing all this to yourself?”
“I… I want to get stronger.”
“Why?”
Emmett glanced around the apartment. Athena didn’t want them thinking about their present situation, but how could Emmett ignore that? They were on the run because of Midas and people like him. He’d taken control of the Binary Brotherhood, taken control of the lab, and turned the Summit against them.
How was he supposed to ignore all that?
Emmett had wanted to be a super ever since he was a kid. He’d wanted to save people and do good in the world… but now he’d realized just how lofty and out of reach those ideals were. He could barely keep himself and Clara safe. Dr. Venture was imprisoned, and Emmett couldn’t talk to his friends or his family. Then there was Lock…
Emmett’s memories of his best friend were forever tainted. Two months of lying to each other, culminating in Lock trying to kill him… and Emmett killing him instead. All because Mutagen-X drove him crazy.
Emmett had wrestled with that fact for months. Emmett may have stabbed Lock, but Gnosis killed him.
Finally, Emmett shook his head. “I don’t want to get pushed around anymore. And I’m tired of watching people close to me get pushed around and I’m too weak to do anything about it. Gnosis killed my best friend. Midas stole the lab and turned the world against Dr. Venture. The government is forcing capes to register. Supers are forced to fight in wars, and regular people don’t have it any better.
“The Summit doesn’t stand up to corruption. Neither does Paragon…They’re not going to save us, and they’re not going to change things. Someone else has to.”
Emmett trailed off. His heart was pounding and even his prosthetic hands were trembling. Emmett clenched his fists and they immediately stopped.
Emmett was suddenly aware that both Clara and Athena were staring at him. His face felt hot.
“I, uh… Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Don’t ever apologize for standing up for yourself or for others.” The resolve in Athena’s voice wavered. “Before I tell you about myself… You need to understand something: I don’t remember when I was born or where. Most of my earliest memories are hazy. They’re like dreams that I can’t remember after waking up. It’s a phenomenon of deep time. Vampires and others have similar problems.
“I’m not really sure how much time passed between things, either. Years kind of bleed together. Decades… Centuries, even. Most of my early memories are from Greece. From Mycenae… almost 2,000 BCE. Though it’s still hard to think of things in BCE.”
Emmett’s mouth fell open. He’d always felt something was off about Athena—that she was different from other supers. But this was on another level.
Emmett shook his head in disbelief. “You’re four thousand years old?”
Athena shrugged. “Give or take.”
Awe bled into Clara’s voice. “You’re older than pancakes.”
“I am, indeed, older than pancakes.”
Emmett stammered, tripping over his mounting questions. “That’s why you never became an official cape… You would need to report your age.”
Athena rolled her eyes. “You just gave a moving speech about why you’re disillusioned with the Summit, and you think the reason I never enlisted with them is because of my age? No. I never joined the Summit because I’ve seen a hundred other organizations like them rise and inevitably amount to nothing. They either fall apart, or they assimilate—they become a cog in the same problematic system.”
“Why are you here in Belport?” Clara asked.
“Here’s as good a place as any.”
Emmett rolled his eyes so hard he almost fell back in his seat. “What! Athena, come on! We’ve seen what you can do. You could change things. You’re probably strong enough to work with Paragon and Amarque and—”
“I tried,” Athena said, leaning back in her chair. “To change things, I mean. A long time ago.”
“Yeah, but what about now?”
“I used to be a symbol of war.” Athena’s voice turned flat, like she didn’t trust what emotion might bubble to the surface. “I used to think I was changing things for the better. Protecting villages, getting rid of a warlord’s army, waging war to unite a kingdom… I could never be sure though. Imagine wading through a field of bodies and second guessing if it was the right thing to do.
“I wallowed in self-destruction—a cycle of war and regret. Sometimes I wonder if that’s why I’ve forgotten so much. Because I didn’t want to remember the things I’d done.
“I… Well, eventually I couldn’t stand myself. I wanted to be a shield and a protector instead. I took the name Athena. I’ve used a few others over the years, but I like that one.”
She cleared her throat. “So, why am I here in Belport? Why am I here instead of trying to change the world? Because it’s goddamn hard. Because the world will fight you every step of the way and you can never be sure if what you’re doing is right… One person can’t change the world—maybe one person shouldn’t be able to…
“Anyway, I’ve been in Belport for eighty years or so, I think.” Athena shrugged. “Eventually, you just want to live your life.”
Emmett nearly asked if this was what Athena had in mind for living her life? Hiding alone in an apartment during the day and playing super by night… Never really changing anything. But he didn’t say any of that out loud.
He did, however, want to ease some of the tension in the room. He couldn’t help but think back to the beginning of their friendship.
Emmett met Athena’s eyes and smirked. “What happened to the warrior that wanted to take down Gnosis?”
Athena scoffed. “Gnosis needs to go down. But I think you’re going to need more than the three of us to do it.”
The three supers chuckled awkwardly. They ate the rest of their pancakes and Athena told them stories of her escapades as a mask in Belport. Emmett and Clara listened eagerly, occasionally chiming in to ask questions or to egg Athena onward when she got sidetracked.
The weight in the air had lessened enough for the three to relax a bit.
But it was replaced with the question of what they were going to do next.
~ ~ ~